. Birds of Massachusetts and other New England states. Birds; Birds. 88 BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS cessfully only much smaller and weaker animals or (rarely) those sick or dying. They subsist chiefly on carrion. There is nothing about them to suggest the hawk or eagle, except their great powers of flight and their telescopic sight. They are extremely timid and indolent. They have no perceptible vocal organs, and therefore their only attempt at vocal expression is a weak hiss or a feeble croak. Family CATHARTID.^. American Vultures. Number of species in North America 3; in Massachusetts 2. These vu
. Birds of Massachusetts and other New England states. Birds; Birds. 88 BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS cessfully only much smaller and weaker animals or (rarely) those sick or dying. They subsist chiefly on carrion. There is nothing about them to suggest the hawk or eagle, except their great powers of flight and their telescopic sight. They are extremely timid and indolent. They have no perceptible vocal organs, and therefore their only attempt at vocal expression is a weak hiss or a feeble croak. Family CATHARTID.^. American Vultures. Number of species in North America 3; in Massachusetts 2. These vultures have the head and neck nearly bare of feathers, and the eyes are not overshadowed by a shield or overhanging brow as in the hawks and eagles; a compara- tively weak and hooked bill; nostrils very large and completely perforated; wings long, wide and strong; tail medium; fore toes rather long, with basal webs; hind toe short and elevated; claws dull and little hooked; some have combs or wattles. Economic Status. This family of scavengers is chiefly beneficial. Cathartes aura septentrionalis Wied. Turkey Vulture. Other names: turkey buzzard; buzzard. Plates 37 and 38. Description. â Head and a little of upper neck bare; plumage beginning as a circlet around neck; bare skin of head and upper neck more or less corrugated and sparsely set with bristly "hairs" (feather shafts); bill long, rather stout, somewhat hooked; nostrils very large and wide; wings extremely long and rather broad, third or fourth primary longest, outer four or five emarginate on inner web; tail not long, rounded; naked skin of head livid crimson, some have small wart-like excrescences between eyes and bill and on top of head. Adults {sexes alike): Neck and lower plumage dull black; upper surface of body, wings and tail blackish with some greenish and violet gloss; margins of feathers of back, scapulars and wing-coverts fading gradually and broadly into light grayish-brown or light ashy; shafts
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Keywords: ., bookauthorforb, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds
